Headline: "Relative noob puts big tank in office"

[rhitee93]

Things are getting real now! The water is in. I've got the heaters and the return pump running. I'm working on getting the overflow tuned as I type.

No leaks in the plumbing (so far), and no real drama other than it takes a lot of 5-gallon buckets to fill this thing.

 

[rhitee93]

Added another 25lbs of mature rock from my LFS. Some went in the sump, and some smaller pieces were used to create caves around the PVC tunnel entrances. I also added some Fritz bacteria.

I have the overflow running pretty quietly now, and will let things settle out for the night. I'll add some ammonia tomorrow.

 

[rhitee93]

It's been a good week. The 2ppm of ammonia I dosed is down to 0.04ppm. Meanwhile the nitrites are at 5ppb and the nitrates are at 8.6ppm. My first 3 fish will finish up their copper program on Tuesday, so I think they'll go into the display this week. Here is a pick of a couple of them from earlier this week. The 2nd clown didn't want to cooperate with the photographer

Yeah, I am running copper in a quarantine system with live rock. I figured I am going to be running this QT for a least a year. After a couple of weeks of chasing ammonia without the rock I decided it was worth it to have good nitrification.

I've had to add some copper as the rock absorbed it, but daily tests with the Hanna checker make this simple to track. Here is what my copper level has been and how much copper power I have had to add.

One downside to the Hanna Master Marine kit (as the experienced folks probably already know) is that you can't run multiple tests simultaneously. I'll probably set a schedule where I test one parameter each morning. However, I really do like using the wider mouth cuvettes that come with the master kit than I do the narrow ones that came with my copper kit. It is much easier to get the packets of reagents poured in.

I also got the ATO hooked up this week as well as Helio temperature controller. Both seem to be doing a great job so far.

Not much in the way of cool DT pics this week, but here is the system as it stands this morning. I plan to get all the controllers and wiring mounted and dressed up next.

 

[ryanrick]

It's looking good - you'll never be leaving work when this is setup and running!

Once the DT is established, you can 'seed' some filter floss to help with the ammonia.

 

[rhitee93]

Another week has gone by. I connected the Maxspect Gyres this week and got them running. I have a 350 on each end, and have them turned down pretty low for now. They really get the sand blowing around if I crank them all the way up.

I also started running the skimmer a couple of days ago. There isn't anything for it to skim, but I thought I might as well start it up and get used to what the controls do. You can only learn so much from the interweb, and eventually you just need to try it for yourself!

I tested the nitrate and phosphate levels again this morning. Nitrates had gone up a little at 9.7ppm and the phosphate level is 0.3ppm. I hadn't really been thinking much about desirable levels yet since the tank doesn't have inhabitants. I looked around this morning and was shocked to find out that these would be considered pretty high for a new tank. I guess I'll need to do some water changes now

I'm holding off on putting my fish in for another couple of weeks. They finished the copper treatment fine, but I decided to run a couple of weeks of Praziquantel before I put them in the DT.

I'm also starting to get the various controllers mounted and dressing up the wiring. I'm not ready to shot that off yet though

Here is today's pic:

 

[rhitee93]

Things just keep getting more exciting. The biggest news for the week is that I got the lights mounted and hooked up.

I ended up buying a rail intended for AI lights. It was a bit pricy, but I was just going to make something out of 80/20 anyway which wouldn't have cost much less. This way I got parts that were well fit to an aquarium.

I suspended my NP K7 lights off of studs with nuts that fit in the T-slot of the rail. Pretty simple...

I drew up a simple cable clip that slides into the T-slot to keep the cables organized, and printed out a few last night:

I also started a refugium this week. I got an order of Chaeto and pods from AlgaeBarn and added a fuge light. It might be too early for this, but this is one area where the aquarium keeping hive mind on the interweb seems to be inconsistent. My phosphate is 0.3ppm after cycling, so I thought I'd try growing some chaeto and see what happens. It should be easy to turn down the photoperiod or shut it down completely if my nutrients start to bottom out.

In other news, I discovered a brittle star has moved in already! I guess it hitchhiked in on the live rock I purchased from the LFS. I've spot fed it a couple of times since there isn't anything else in the tank. It goes crazy when I drop a pellet or a mysis shrimp by the hole it's in. There is a video of the star in this thread:

Brittle Star Hitchhiker Thread

My first 3 fish have just about finished up their quarantine. They'll go to their new home in a few days! That's about it for this week.

 

[rhitee93]

Here come the diatoms.
(I think)

 

[rhitee93]

There isn't a lot to report this week in terms of changes. I added 10 hermit crabs and 15 snails of various types to start the CUC. I'm a bit worried I added too many critters because they made a noticeable dent in what little algae was starting to grow.

Here is today's tank update shot:

The chaeto ball in my fuge has grown quite a bit. I've been lowering the photoperiod for it because my nitrates are down to 3.2ppm. My phosphates, however, are still high and seem to be going up. Today they measured 0.56ppm. I need to study more about the relationship between the two and how export affects them.

I did get some new fish friends in QT this week as well. Here is the Bangaii gang:

And their watchman:

They'll hang out in observation for a while before I start the QT protocol. They are all a lot bigger than I expected, but the ammonia hasn't risen in my little observation tank at all. I'm guessing the DT will have the capacity to handle them when they make the move in a few weeks.

Everyone seems to be eating well.

 

[rhitee93]

Wow, I've let a couple of weeks go by without an update. I've had a mixed bag of results since my last post. The DT seems to be doing fine.

I've been making minor adjustments to the light intensity to adjust the algae growth. Not sure if that is effective or not, but my CUC seemed to start stripping everything bare so I cranked up the lights. Then I started seeing algae accumulation so I backed them off a little bit. I'm probably chasing my tail with this, but I'll learn what is and isn't effective eventually.

The bad news is I lost my goby and cardinals in the first week they were here. The goby looked good for a day or so, and then started hiding. It was dead the 3rd morning. Then the cardinals started wasting away one by one. One fish would isolate itself from the rest of the group, and 12 hours later would be dead.

I don't know if it was me or the fish. I checked ammonia thinking I may have overrun my biologic filtration but it was 0.05ppm (Hanna). Nitrates were <10ppm and phosphates were <0.2ppm. I've decided not to get any more mail-order fish for a while.

I soldiered on and did a nearly 100% water change and got a fox faced rabbit fish and a tiny yellow watchman goby. They've been in the QT tank for a week now and I started copper power 2 days ago. They seem to be healthy at this point.

 

[rhitee93]

Another week has gone by. I'm starting to see quite a bit of GHA growth. I scrubbed some off with a toothbrush during this week's water change, and I added some more hermits and snails. I should be around 20 hermits and 20 snails of various sizes. I also added a coupe of emerald crabs.

Depending on how the additional CUC members impact things, I'll continue to play with reducing the photo-period to slow down the algae growth.

Nitrates were at 3.1ppm and phosphates were at 0.19ppm today. That's about where they were last week, but the GHA has obviously been getting fuel from somewhere so the tests may not tell the whole tale.

I'm only feeding frozen food, but I may be putting a bit too much into the tank. I put in about 3/4 of a cube of various frozen food a day for the 2 clowns and the tiny puffer. The tank goes crazy for the frozen food too, but always has nori in a clip.

The fish seem to be doing well. The foxface and goby I have in QT seem to be doing well too. They have been at a therapeutic copper level for a week now, but are more active and interactive than ever.

 

[rhitee93]

Time for another weekly update. Here is the tank as of this morning:

Last week I was starting to see a lot of GHA growth. I had added some more CUC members during the week, and removed as much algae as I could reach with a toothbrush. I also reduced the lighting to about half of what it had been.

I was still seeing quite a bit of GHA growth, and it was obvious that the CUC wasn't going to keep up with it. I know the "CUC Packages" folks sell are generally considered too large, especially for a new tank. However, there was a large difference between where I was and what these packages contain. I decided to double down on the CUC, and ordered a package for a tank half my size. That brought in another dozen hermits, a few larger snails, and dozens of tiny cerith snails. They decimated the GHA in 3 days, so I may have gone too far.

Now that I have successfully converted the GHA into crab meat and snail waste I need to see if I can get the nutrients out of the system before they become something else. I've turned the lights back up to help the algae grow a bit more to balance the CUC's needs. A bit of a paradox I know - Introduce inverts to get rid of algae, but then have to ramp up algae production to feed the inverts. I'd rather have some GHA growing though than one of the nastier uglies. Oh well, I'm sure I'll learn something from this.

Phosphates are about the same at 0.24ppm this morning, but Nitrates have fallen to 0.7ppm. I only did a 5 gallon water change today. I'll probably test again in a couple of days to see if the nitrates are really that low. If so maybe I'll turn down the fuge lights. I know some nasty thing can happen when nitrates bottom out but phosphates are still high, but don't remember what it is. I need to go research that today...

Changing too many variables at once - I know. It's tough because the time constant of observing a change is really long compared to how fast algae seems to grow.

Fish are doing well and growing. The fox face and goby I have in quarantine are still doing well. The goby has learned I am a food source and come to me when I approach the tank.

The system itself seems to be working well. None of the equipment is giving me any trouble.

 

[rhitee93]

It's not often these 3 guys are close enough for me to get them in the same pic...

 

[rhitee93]

Oh the things we do...

I let (encourage) the staff to go all out at Halloween and decorate a lot of the building. This year's theme is Indiana Jones. This is what my poor new aquarium looks like today:

You can see into my office from the entrance to the admin hallway. They decided the hallway needed to be the Well of the Souls, so I had play along.

Here is the view from the entrance to the hallway. Looks better IRL because the torches flicker:

 

[rhitee93]

Another week has gone by without too much drama. The GHA is taking off again and I scrubbed quite a bit out with the water change today. Nitrates were down to 0.4ppm and phosphate was 0.14pmm this morning. That's quite a drop in nitrates, but I suspect it was converted to GHA. Now I'm worried the nitrate level will keep dropping

I feed a little less than 1 cube a day of mysis, plankton, or brine shrimp for my 4 small fish. I don't really have any idea if that is too much or too little which means I don't really know what sort of impact that has on nutrients.

Here's today's progress shot:

I've got a zebra turbo snail that has been upside down every morning for the last 3 days. I'm wondering if that means it's dying. I flip it over and it moves around a bit, but ends up upside down in the same general area of the tank. It's about 2" in diameter so it's got some pollution potential if it dies.

The fish seem to be doing fine, and the goby and fox face I have in quarantine are getting along well. They've been at therapeutic copper levels for 25 days now. I'll be glad to get them moved to the DT because the fox face is getting kind of big for the little QT tank I have.

I've been going through the roller mat material much faster the last couple of weeks. I guess that is a result of the much larger cuc. I'm still using the manual roller that came with my trigger sump and it was only taking a 4-6" inches of mat cranked through a couple of times a day to keep the water level in the mat chamber fairly consistent. Now it is taking a couple of inches every hour to maintain the level. This plays havoc with the ATO at night so I've ordered the motorized upgrade for the roller. I guess they really know how to keep you coming back and hitting the feeder bar...

 

[rhitee93]

I installed the trigger systems motorized fleece roller controller thingy today. It seems to be pretty well made, but there are no instructions anywhere for how to assemble it. I did manage to download the manual on how to setup the controller, and that allowed me to derive which of the 3 sensors gets plugged in where. However the mechanical assembly was just a puzzle.

I'm sitting here waiting for it to get triggered now. Been scrubbing more algae off the rocks to dirty up the water in order to speed things along a bit

Here are a few pics:

 

[vanguard]

It's looking good. It's probably time for a few corals. What are you going to start with?

Also, if I had a tank I didn't see on the weekends very much, I'd want a controller and a camera. Have you considered adding one?

 

[rhitee93]

It's looking good. It's probably time for a few corals. What are you going to start with?

Also, if I had a tank I didn't see on the weekends very much, I'd want a controller and a camera. Have you considered adding one?

Thanks! I have a camera on it so I can see what's going on. I opened the cabinet and have the camera focused on the roller tonight so I can keep an eye on it

I used to design control systems for a living, and don't really want that in my hobby life, but will inevitably go that direction eventually because I like things to be automated. Maybe in year two...

I'm only 10 minutes from my office, and pop in on the weekends for larger maintenance tasks and the check on the fish

 

[rhitee93]

Here is this week's progress photo:

The controller for the reef mat I installed last week has been working well. I'm sure it is confirmation bias, but the water has seemed more clear since I switched to it. Oddly, I'm using less filter material now than when I was turning the roll manually, and since it is adjusted continuously, the water levels in the sump chambers has been much more stable.

The nitrates and phosphates are still on a downward cycle. Today the phosphate level is 0.1ppm and the nitrate level is 0.3ppm. This is in spite of the fact that I have increased feeding and added two more fish that just got out of quarantine. I decided not to do a water change today, and turned down the skimmer a little. I also reduced the fuge photoperiod by a couple of hours, and adjusted the reef mat level sensor slightly to slow it down a bit. That is a lot to change at once, but I made very small adjustments to all of them. I'll check the nitrates again in a few days to see if they are coming up any.

Not much else to report.

 

[rhitee93]

Here is this week's update photo:

The water is a little cloudy because I just scraped down the algae on the back wall. The roller matt is working overtime at the moment.

My Nitrates are still down around 0.3ppm so I decided to skip another water change today. It's been 2 weeks now since I have done a water change. Am I at risk of messing something else up by not doing one?

I took the fuge completely offline around the middle of this week, and have doubled my feeding to two frozen cubes a day all week. The phosphates have come up a bit, not that I wanted them to. Today I measured 0.17ppm.

Other than that, things seem to be going pretty well. I have quite a bit of algae on the back glass, but not much on the rocks, and nothing but a little bit of diatoms on the sand. I actually bumped the lights up 5% this week to encourage a little more algae growth for the herbivores.

 

[rhitee93]

It's been a couple of weeks since I did an update! Time flies around the holidays...

Here is a pic from late last week:

It doesn't look much different than the last one, but the tank has been through a lot in a couple of weeks. I've been posting in this thread how my nitrates have been steadily dropping since I started the tank. I had dialed back the filtration, and increased feeding by 400% but the nitrates still hit zero on 11-28-23.

I was struggling with whether or not to dose nitrates in such a young tank as the opinions vary greatly on that. Within 2 days I had a brown slime starting to cover everything so I started dosing.

I mixed up my own solution of sodium nitrate and dosed a couple ppm worth every day and got the nitrate level up to about 10 over the course of a week. The brown slime started to recede quickly once I got measurable nitrates in the system. Correlation? Causation? Who knows?

I've stopped dosing for now, but I'm anticipating that my nitrates will slowly fall again. If so I'll dose every now and then to keep them around 10ppm.